The Most Used Chord Progressions

Thousands of tracks are built on just a handful of chord progressions. That's not a lack of imagination: these progressions make very good use of the tension and resolution you discovered in the previous lesson. Knowing them doesn't force you to use them, but it lets you recognize them, transform them, and know what you're doing when you move away from them.

For each progression, we give the Roman numerals, then an example in a specific key. Roman numerals describe a progression independently of the key: I V vi IV means the same progression in C major, in G major or in E flat major.

I V vi IV, the pop progression

Let's start with the most famous one. In C major, I V vi IV gives you C, G, Am and F. It's used in a huge number of pop, electronic pop and film music tracks, to the point that people often recognize it by the second bar.

It brings the three functions together in a very effective order: the tonic to settle in, the dominant to build anticipation, A minor as a false tonic, darker, and then the subdominant. Since the loop ends on F, the return to C on the next pass is a plagal cadence, a gentle ending that relaunches the loop without closing it.

One progression, four starting points

If you start the same loop on a different chord, you get what's called a rotation. The chords and their order don't change; only the starting point moves. Yet the effect changes a lot, because the first chord of a loop sounds like home.

The rotation vi IV I V deserves a closer look. When the loop starts on A minor, your ear takes A minor as home. The same progression then becomes a progression in A minor, written i VI III VII. That's no coincidence: C major and A minor are relative keys; they share the same notes and therefore the same chords.

i VI III VII, the same energy in minor

In A minor, i VI III VII gives you Am, F, C and G. It's one of the most common minor loops: you hear it in electronic pop, melodic trap, the most emotional EDM and a lot of video game music. It sounds sad and full of drive at the same time.

Part of its secret is in the bass. The roots first drop a third, from A to F, rise a fifth to C, drop a fourth to G, and then G steps up a whole step to A. The last chord, G major, sits just a whole step below the tonic, and that small step up relaunches the loop with energy.

i iv v, the simplest minor progression

This progression uses only the three main chords of the minor key: the tonic, the subdominant and the dominant, all minor. In D minor, that gives you Dm, Gm and Am. It sounds sober, a little serious, and it leaves plenty of room for a melody or a vocal.

Remember the previous lesson: with the minor v, the loop brings back the tonic without insisting. If you want a stronger return, replace v with V. In D minor, that means playing A major, with C♯, instead of A minor. Both versions are common, and the choice depends on the mood you're after: floating with v, dramatic with V.

ii V I, the heart of jazz

Let's move on to a progression that comes from jazz and that you find all over lo-fi, R&B and neo-soul. In C major, ii V I gives you Dm, G and C. It moves from subdominant to dominant to tonic: it's a perfect cadence, set up by a chord that strengthens its effect.

In the figure, the chords are played with their sevenths, as you almost always hear them in these styles. Also look at how the bass moves: D, G, C. Each root drops a fifth, or rises a fourth, which leads to the same note an octave higher. This movement by a fifth is the strongest there is between two chords, and ii V I chains two of them in a row.

i VII VI V, the Andalusian cadence

Here's a progression that goes down. In A minor, i VII VI V gives you Am, G, F and E. The bass walks down step by step, A, G, F, E, and the final chord is E major, the dominant with its leading tone G♯. It's called the Andalusian cadence, because it shows up a lot in flamenco; you also hear it in rock, film music, and many trap and drill loops.

It works because it combines two forces: a bass line sliding downward, which is very easy for the ear to follow, and a tense final chord that brings the tonic right back. Listen to the move from F to E: the note F drops a half step to E, and that half step gives the end of the loop its Spanish color.

vi IV I V, between major and minor

We've already come across vi IV I V as a rotation of I V vi IV. It deserves its own spot, because it's very often used exactly as it is. In F major, it gives you Dm, Bb, F and C. Depending on the arrangement, the ear hears it sometimes in major, with home on F, and sometimes in minor, with home on Dm. That ambiguity is a big part of its charm: the progression sounds moving without being outright sad.

Two chords are enough

You don't need four chords to make a loop. Many house, melodic techno, afro and trap tracks run on just two chords, sometimes for an entire track. What matters is that the two chords are different enough to create movement, and close enough to stay coherent. First, listen to Am and F, in A minor.

Here, the two chords have two notes in common, A and C: the change is gentle, almost just a change of lighting. Now compare it with Am and G.

Between Am and G, no note is shared, and the movement is bolder, more determined. Both loops work, and the choice depends on what the bass, the drums and the melody are doing around them.

Why they work

If you look closely at these progressions, you always find the same ingredients. First, neighboring chords often share notes: C and Am have two notes in common, and so do Am and F, which makes for smooth connections. Next, the roots often move by a fifth or a fourth, the most solid movement, or by small steps, the easiest to follow. Finally, each progression alternates functions, and its last chord, when it isn't the tonic, pushes toward the first.

These three ingredients are also a method for inventing your own progressions. Start from a tonic, choose a chord that shares notes with it or whose root is a fifth away, and end the loop on a chord that leads back to the start. You'll rarely come up with a progression nobody has ever played, but that's not the point: your sound, your rhythm and your melody are what will make the difference.

In the next lesson, we'll see how each genre dresses up these progressions: which chords house prefers, what techno does, and why lo-fi loves sevenths so much.